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Ever since 2018 and declaring the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 law unconstitutional, a lot has changed in the US economy. The legalization of sports betting across the US states had a great impact on the economy of almost the whole North American Continent.
These incredible economic benefits brought by the long-awaited change by the Supreme Court help the US generate an incredible amount of money. If you are wondering how exactly legalizing sports betting affects the economy of the US, here’s a chance to learn more about it.
Bringing it Back
Before the gambling law was overturned on the federal level, many states tried to work past the PASPA. The first one was New Jersey, which was also one of the first states to embrace the 2018 change and legalize sports betting. In 2018 when the eager punters, states, and operators received the favorable ruling, everything started to change.
Soon after, one by one the US states started to alter their gambling laws and welcome tons of new sportsbook operators to the market. Needless to say, this has brought tons of new operators with no deposit free bets, and one of the ways the States profit from the whole situation is through licenses.
Issuing sportsbook licenses to new bookmakers is one of the ways to generate revenue from sports betting. The days of illegal sports wagering and offshore online sports betting are long gone, and everyone wants to switch from grey zones into the clear. And although the development of the sports betting industry in the US is just starting, it is obvious that it will make a significant boost to the US economy.
After all, the global sports betting industry market size went over 203 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. And even if the digits might be that high due to the Covid-19 crisis and lockdowns, they are not far from that.
Taxable Winnings and Employment Rate
More and more US states are changing their gambling laws and legalizing sports betting, online sportsbooks, and other gambling types. Almost half of them decided to pass a sports betting bill into law and switch to more relaxed gambling measures. This resulted in the emergence of some of the best Nevada sportsbooks, New Jersey operators, and other great betting options. As you probably already know, casino and sportsbook wins are taxable in the United States of America.
This means that all the sports betting local taxes are generating US billions of dollars each year. Wagerers in the US are obliged to report their sportsbook winnings to the IRS since it is considered taxable income.
Moreover, this also affected the employment rate and created opportunities for new jobs. Nowadays, there are more than 750,000 people working at different casino and sportsbook properties on the US territory. Besides, sports wagering operations and revenue including wages, salaries, and tips, as well as winnings/losses. This contributed to the dozens of billions of dollars of total labor income.
How Much Money Do Americans Bet On Sports?
According to the recent analysis, the total sports betting revenue in the US is valued at more than 900 million dollars. And it is no wonder that such a big and lucrative industry will bring tons of economic benefits. In case you want to know more facts, according to AGA or The American Gaming Association, more than 40 million US residents bet on sports events on an annual basis. Also, a recent poll suggests that 80% of Americans are in favor of legalizing sports betting.
As we already mentioned, in 2018 the Supreme Court struck down the PASPA. By 2020, more than $20 billion has been wagered on sports bets within US sportsbooks. In addition, the states that regulated betting laws saw an incredible increase in gambling revenue, especially from the online betting market. NJ residents spent $4.6 billion on bets in 2019, and 84% of it all was placed online.
Conclusion
A few years into the whole sports betting frenzy and the United States of America has gained so much. As far as legal sports betting is considered, it is expected to contribute $22.4 billion to the US. To make a detailed conclusion the analysts would have to look at the in-depth sports betting revenue by state since 2018. However, the fact that the sports betting industry is growing rapidly shows us that this industry is a potential goldmine that is yet to make America’s economy flourish.
